A still unidentified man was fatally shot in the back by Los Angeles Police Department officers Thursday morning shortly before 9 a.m. during an incident where police initially claimed that he had attacked officers with his skateboard.

The police have since changed their story and admitted that was a lie.

The shooting took place in a residential neighborhood near Ninth Street and Sycamore Avenue after police were called about a man who was allegedly breaking windows in the area. The responding LAPD officers saw the man who matched the description given to dispatchers, and they claim he fled from them on his skateboard.

The officers eventually caught up to the man after he either fell or jumped off of his skateboard. Then, LAPD claimed that the man would not comply with their commands as they attempted to detain him, so they got violent.

LAPD spokesperson, Officer Jack Richter, stated that at this point, officers tased the victim after using “a variety of physical force.” Conveniently, neither of the officers were wearing body cameras.

The police had reported that the man had attacked the officers with his skateboard, but that has been determined to be untrue. Now, the department has now changed their story, claiming that the man got a hold of the officers taser after it was used on him, and that he it used it on the officer’s leg.

The officer who was allegedly tased alerted their partner, and that is when they fired an unknown number of shots into the man. He was taken to the hospital and determined to be in critical condition.

He died Thursday evening.

Los Angeles-based journalist Patrick Comiskey, 54, was out walking his pet poodle and witnessed the incident.

Posing as money launderers, police in Bal Harbour and Glades County, Fla. laundered a staggering $71.5 million for drug cartels in an undercover sting operation, according to an in-depth investigation by The Miami Herald. With fake identities, undercover officers made deals to pick up cash from criminal organizations in cities across the country. Agents then delivered the money to Miami-Dade storefronts and even wired cash to banks overseas in China and Panama. After laundering the cash, police would skim a three percent commission fee, ultimately generating $2.4 million for themselves.

“If you think of all the money that’s made from drugs, at some point it has to be cleaned up and become legit,” remarked Finn Selander, a former DEA agent and a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. But unless proper precautions are taken, sting operations can “backfire” and “come back and bite you in the proverbial ***.”

Together, the Bal Harbour Police Department and the Glades County Sheriff’s Office formed the Tri-County Task Force, which, despite the name, consisted of only two agencies. From 2010 to 2012, the task force passed on information and tips to federal agencies that led to the government seizing almost $30 million. Yet the undercover unit laundered over $70 million for drug cartels—more than twice as much as what was actually taken off the streets.

Notably, the Tri-County Task Force never made a single arrest. The task force countered that assertion, claiming they passed on intelligence that led to over 200 arrests made by other agencies. But a representative from the DEA said, “There’s no way we can validate those numbers. We have no idea what they are basing those numbers on.” Tellingly, “the task force did not document the names of the 200 people who were arrested,” according to The Miami Herald.

Thanks to the commissions from money laundering, the task force could indulge in a lavish lifestyle. Officers enjoyed $1,000 dinners at restaurants in the Miami area, and spent $116,000 on airfare and first-class flights and nearly $60,000 for hotel accommodations, including stays at the Bellagio and the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and El San Juan Resort & Casino in Puerto Rico. Police also spent over $100,000 on iPads, computers, laptops and other electronics, bought a new Jeep Grand Cherokee for $42,012 and even purchased $25,000 worth of weaponry, including FN P90 submachine guns. (Bal Harbour, a seaside village of 2,500 residents known for having the nation’s top sales-generating mall, reported just one violent crime in 2012.)

If you want to be a criminal, just become an officer and call it a sting operation and live like a king.

The Waco Twin Peaks biker massacre case just took an extremely ominous, and seemingly corrupt turn. A police detective for the Waco Police Department was selected to serve as the head of the 12 person grand jury, which is likely to decide who gets indicted in the case.

Detective James Head, a 26-year police veteran, was wearing his police badge and pistol when he was sworn in Wednesday, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.

When asked by the Waco Tribune-Herald if he had played a role in the Twin Peaks investigation, Head responded, “Not really.” With Head going on to admit that his selection was kind of “unusual.”

The extreme conflict of interest shown by the selection of Head to the grand jury – let alone serve as its foreman, reveals a blatant disregard for even the appearance of legitimacy in this case.

...

"“We took the first 12 people who were qualified,” Strother said. “They weren’t hand-picked. It was a completely random process. And a Waco police officer was among those, and so he was seated, just like any other citizen. […] Suppose if there’d been someone who was a member of a biker club, what do you think kind of criticism we would have received if I said, ‘No, no you can’t be on the grand jury, sorry.'"

The absurdity of the judges comments are clear!

Had a Cossack or Bandito member, which wasn’t at the restaurant the day of the incident, been one of the 100 random members summoned, the judge would have never seated them on the grand jury.

This case has been approached with very little in the way of transparency, since the beginning. Judging from the way this case has been handled thus far, it would seem that in Waco, Texas, the fix is in.

One thing is certain; the corrupt judicial system has no regard for the legal legitimacy of this case, nor the constitutional rights of the 177 people jailed illegitimately.

A conservation officer in Canada has been put on suspension — not for violating his duty to protect wildlife, but rather for heroically saving the lives of two helpless animals his higher-ups wanted killed.

Following reports of a female black bear who had broken into a home in rural British Columbia in the company of her two young cubs, Officer Bryce Casavant and local firefighters were dispatched to the scene. Unfortunately, the responders decided to put the mother bear down, though when it came to dealing with her now-orphaned offspring, the conservation officer took a more sympathetic approach.

Defying orders to euthanize the 8-week-old bear cubs, Casavant instead collected the frightened youngsters and had them sent to local animal hospital, the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre. That simple show of kindness has now put his job in jeopardy, reports Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Meanwhile, conservation services released a statement saying that Casavant's actions are now under investigation, but supporters say the officer should be lauded, not suspended. A petition on Care.org has garnered more than 150,000 signatures calling for Casavant to be reinstated.

Given the bears' age, staff at North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre are optimistic the cubs will eventually be released back into the wild — all thanks to the sympathy shown by Casavant, who defends his actions on their behalf, telling the Vancouver Mirror:

"I think it is important for the community to know that I am here to do the right thing."

UPDATE: Officer Casavant was originally suspended without pay, but in light of the overwhelming public response to his case, he has since been placed back on they payroll, CVT News reports. He is currently still under suspension.

Hello. a cop killed our mother and wanted to kill us too. it's because we are black.

“The problem is when you have somebody unarmed, [committing] no clear crime, and it’s just, ‘OK, that’s what happened, [the officer] was afraid.’ Well, fear is not enough justification to shoot somebody, but that’s what the law says. The law says if you are in fear of your life as an officer, you can pull that trigger. That’s preposterous.”

The Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney refused to meet with my Attorney to review the video. Therefore I can only assume that they intend to prosecute me to the fullest extent of the law. I am now posting this video to show the lawlessness that is prevalent in Henrico County.

A former longtime local police officer was sentenced Friday after admitting to several criminal charges, including dereliction of duty.

While he may avoid having felony charges on his record, he will never again serve as a law enforcement officer.

Gary Harrington, 42, of Bennington, had served on the Manchester and Winhall police departments as well as with the Bennington County Sheriff’s Department, where he had risen to the rank of corporal.

Harrington pleaded guilty Friday in Bennington criminal court to a felony count of distribution of narcotics, a felony count of forgery, a misdemeanor count of neglecting his duty and two misdemeanor counts of possession of narcotics.

Under the plea agreement reached Friday, his sentence for the felony charges will be deferred for three years. If he has no further legal troubles in that time, the charges will be dismissed and his record sealed so he will not have a felony record.

For the misdemeanor charges, Harrington was sentenced to four to 12 months on each count, to be served consecutively, for an overall sentence of 12 to 36 months. However, that time was suspended and Harrington was placed on probation.

Those charges will remain on his criminal record and prevent him from being a police officer again.

Another eight counts, which include a felony count of extortion, two felony counts of selling drugs and five misdemeanor charges of possessing drugs were dismissed.

Judge David Howard said Friday he would accept the plea agreement, although he said that some community members might believe Harrington had avoided the jail time others might have to serve because of his position as a former police officer.

“People are going to say, ‘See? He was a police officer.’ They’re going to carry that over to other police officers,” Howard said.

A dozing police offer in the Philippines enabled a quintet of prisoners to escape confinement, sources say. The prisoners, locked in the Koronadal City precinct on drug charges, crept through the barred ceiling of their detention room around 3 a.m. as officer Teofilo Toledo nodded off.

The prisoners had slowly sawed the iron bars over the course of several months and, once they saw the sleeping cop, crept through. Upon reaching the outside world, the prisoners scattered; none have been tracked down.

“I have ordered a massive manhunt and I appeal to the relatives of the detainees to help bring them back to detention facility and defend their cases in court,” Briones told reporters.

Why all five prisoners were locked up in the same holding area, in such a small prison, for so long, is unclear. It’s likely a result of the Philippines’ rather unregulated penitentiary system, which suffers from just a bit of corruption.

Regardless, officer Toledo now joins the ranks of such newsworthy police nodders as this Chicago Police officer asleep in his squad car, these dozing Scottish officers and this conked-out Connecticut officer. Let’s hope this trend winds down.

San Diego has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a man with Down syndrome who was roughed up by an on-duty sheriff's deputy.

The deputy used pepper spray and a metal baton to subdue the man before handcuffing him.

Only when he got the 21-year-old man into his squad car did the deputy realize that the man was not resisting arrest but rather had become frightened and confused because he did not understand the deputy's commands.

Antonio Martinez was leaving his family's bakery in Vista on Dec. 18, 2012, when he was confronted by deputy Jeffrey Guy, who was responding to a domestic violence call in the neighborhood.

Martinez, who has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old, did not respond to commands to stop walking. The deputy felt he might be a suspect and used force to subdue him. Bystanders began screaming at the deputy to stop.

Within days of the incident, a sheriff's captain visited the Martinez family to apologize.

As part of the settlement, Sheriff Bill Gore will meet with the family.

The settlement has been approved by the Board of Supervisors and will become final when approved by the Superior Court judge overseeing the case.

I dunno why they want another police officer to beat meet with the kid...

A Faulkner County sheriff's deputy was fired Friday for using "excessive force" against a suspect during a videotaped arrest in May, while three other deputies are on leave and federal authorities are joining the investigation, the sheriff's office said.

"It is clear from interviews, law enforcement supplemental reports and the video recording that Deputy Eugene Watlington engaged in gratuitous striking (kicking) of suspect [Harvey] Martin while other deputies struggled to restrain the suspect," a sheriff's office news release said.

"As a result, Deputy Watlington has been notified of his termination from his position as deputy sheriff effective July 10, 2015, for the use of excessive force against suspect Martin on the night of the incident," the release added.

"In addition to his termination, the [Faulkner County sheriff's office] will move to have Deputy Watlington de-certifed as a law enforcement officer," it said.

"A final decision on the employment status of the other deputies involved in the physical altercation and restraint of Martin has not been made a this time. They remain on administrative leave," the release said.

The sheriff's office also will "be working with federal authorities" to determine whether the deputies' actions "rise to the level of a federal civil rights violation," the office said.

Sheriff Andy Shock declined to comment further on the federal government's involvement.

FBI spokesman Debra Green said the bureau had "no comment" at this time.

Watlington could not be reached by telephone late Friday. His phone number is not listed in Conway-area directory assistance.

A second officer -- Billy Kenney, who was placed on paid administrative leave along with Watlington, a narcotics officer -- remains on leave, Shock said.

Kenney is a part-time deputy, and Kenney's arrest of a passenger in Martin's car, Christopher Cummings, was not caught on camera.

Shock, who said he saw the video a day or two after the arrests, declined to identify the two other deputies put on leave. Shock said the two unidentified deputies were put on leave later in the investigation, but he was not more specific about when.

So now you know why Open Carry Texas was out there protesting. Whether you agree with them or not is not the issue. We should all be able to agree that police who open carry should not respond to legal open carry protests by illegally brandishing an assault rifle in ready position in order to intimidate people whose message they do not agree with. Furthermore, as law enforcement officers are required to take an oath of allegiance to the Constitution, it is disturbing to hear a cop openly refer to the Constitution as “bullsh**”.

Houston police officer, badge #7428 can be seen in the video standing next to his cruiser, saying “You’re not under arrest, you’re not even being detained.”

As a result, protesters ignore his harassment and continue walking down the sidewalk. But the officer who had just told them they were not being detained says “Hold it, stop, stop stop…”

That means he illegally detained the man, after admitting he had no probable cause to do so.

The cop then threatens to “escalate” the situation, implying the use of lethal force since the protesters did not talk to him.

“We can do the whole ‘I show you your thing and you show me my thing, or we can escalate this another way, alright?”

One of the protesters said he doesn’t answer questions from cops if he is not being detained. The officer was enraged.

“Dude, look, you can try this constitutional crap all you want, but I got news for ya ok? I’m part of that 3% that you’re trying to represent. But you ain’t doing nothing but f*cking it up for everyone else right now, you got me?

The cop then demands that the protester produce identification, to which he responds: “no.” He was under no legal obligation to identify himself to this officer.

“So how am I supposed to know if you’re a felon,” the antagonistic, anti-Constitution officer asked?

Indian police admit a 17-year-old rape survivor was raped a second time when police sent her as bait to catch her attackers, then failed to follow her.

According to Indian media, the girl was raped at knifepoint by a pair of men on July 7. She said the attackers shot video of the attack and blackmailed her with it to keep her from reporting the assault. The girl went to the police anyway, and cops decided to lay a trap for the men.

But a "miscommunication" meant officers who were supposed to watch her and move in weren't told when she was dropped off. Instead, the girl was allegedly raped again by the same men.

The suspects were arrested a short time later.

The officer who led the operation has been suspended pending an inquiry.

The horrific story is making headlines in India, where rape has become a hot-button issue.

The district of Maharashtra, where the girl was raped, recorded the most rape cases in all of India last year.

The City of New York has agreed to pay $5.9 million to settle the wrongful death complaint filed by Eric Garner's family members, according to the New York Times.

...

Instead, taxpayers will shoulder the cost. Between 2006 and 2011, New York City paid out $348 million in settlements or judgments in cases pertaining to civil rights violations by police, according to a UCLA study published in June 2014. Those nearly 7,000 misconduct cases included allegations of excessive use of force, sexual assault, unreasonable searches, and false arrests. More than 99 percent of the payouts came from the city's municipal budget, which has a line item dedicated to settlements and judgments each year. (The city did require police to pay a tiny fraction of the total damages, with officers personally contributing in less than 1 percent of the cases for a total of $114,000.)

This scenario is typical of police departments across the country, says the study's author Joanna Schwartz, who analyzed records from 81 law enforcement agencies employing 20 percent of the nation's approximately 765,000 police officers. (The NYPD, which is responsible for three-quarters of the cases in the study, employs just over 36,000 officers.) Out of the more than $735 million paid out by cities and counties for police misconduct between 2006 and 2011, government budgets paid more than 99 percent. Local laws indemnifying officers from responsibility for such damages vary, but "there is little variation in the outcome," Schwartz wrote. "Officers almost never pay."

It seems very left out of things that there was no evidence that he had been selling cigarettes that day.
He had been busted for it in times past but all they knew he did that day was to break up a fight.
Cops needed amusement so decided to **** with him.